


Monochrome Cherry Blossom

by Pik (Pikplays), RockKreiss



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Angst, Comedy, F/M, I'll add more tags once we actually figure out what applies to this fic, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 05:06:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9532928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pikplays/pseuds/Pik, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockKreiss/pseuds/RockKreiss
Summary: Nagito Komaeda earns a backstage pass to meet the most famous idol in Japan, only for his luck to ruin everything once more. What Sayaka Maizono doesn't know is that this isn't the only time that she'll encounter the luckster... it's only the beginning.





	

The lights were starting to irritate Nagito's eyes as he watched the performance happening before him, but he didn't let that get in the way of the idol group's natural brightness as they sang and danced on stage, driving their fans wild. Frankly, he wasn't even supposed to be there, but his luck had decided yet again to play tricks on him by earning him a backstage pass to the concert of the most prestigious idol group in Japan, and maybe even in the whole world: Sayaka Maizono's group. This was too much good luck.

Sayaka Maizono had just been recruited by Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Pop Sensation, and he understood now clearly why they had decided to recruit her. Her hope was the brightest of her group, yearning to be seen, to be in the spotlight. And she was right there, at the very center, earning herself more and more fans with her smile.

This wasn't something that trash like him deserved to watch, but he couldn't really give the pass to anyone else. He didn't know his classmates' addresses, and he didn't want to bother them in the first place by forcing it onto them when they all already despised him enough.

Sayaka’s eyes shone and shimmered as she bounced around the stage, effortlessly letting the lyrics to her song pour out of her mouth as she sang and danced her way through her final song. Her smile could have been considered to be one of the most natural smiles the idol had produced in a long time, and she had every reason to feel that way. After she had been first scouted out to be accepted into the prestigious Hope’s Peak Academy, she had been working her hardest for this final concert before the school year began. It had already been arranged that she would take a temporary hiatus, at least for the beginning of the year, due to her needing to focus on her studies. That’s what she had been told, at least.

That wasn’t important right now; anyway, as she felt herself consumed by the energy of the concert, the lights streaking across the stage, the noise of her fans only encouraging her even harder to put all of her energy into her final song. Nothing mattered at that moment other than focusing on the concert, the chanting of her name echoing in her ears.

Before Nagito had realized it, the concert had come to an end, finishing with "I am not typical!". Or at least, that's what the set list called it. He raised an eyebrow at the name, but decided not to question it. It wasn't like he knew anything about the idol business, anyways.

As Sayaka finished off her final song, she continued to smile as she gave a few words of thanks before proceeding offstage, greeted by a smaller, more calm round of applause from those watching behind the scenes, much more relaxed than the group outside. After a few minutes of recovering from the slightly strenuous concert, she received a list of names of those who had won a competition that had been run for backstage pass and a chance to meet Sayaka herself. Well, it was meant to be a list, but an error had apparently been made in the selection process: Nagito Komaeda. The name held no real importance in Sayaka’s mind as she took a note to remember it, rolling her shoulders a bit to both relax herself and wait for Nagito to eventually arrive.

After buying a can of soda from a nearby vendor to quench his thirst after having watched the whole concert without drinking anything, Nagito proceeded to the backstage with his pass. He could still barely believe that he was going to meet the talented individual that was Sayaka, and he couldn't help but place himself even lower in his mental list of worthiness. Someone else probably deserved this way more than he did. Maybe even someone without any redeeming qualities or talent deserved this more than him, based on how they all seemed to be such dedicated fans of the girl while he didn't know much about her. Save for what he had seen during the concert and what he had heard, of course.

Nonetheless, he decided to buy one of the magazines that contained a poster of Sayaka just so he'd have something for her to autograph and not make it seem suspicious for him, someone who barely knew a thing about her, to win a competition that had a lot of hardcore fans competing in. It was all due to his luck, yes, but he wouldn't mention something like that to her. His talent was as worthless as he was, after all.

A small hum emerged from Sayaka's mouth, softly singing the lyrics to one of her songs as she wandered around her room, waiting for the competition winner to arrive. As she waited, she couldn’t help but think about the year ahead of her at Hope’s Peak Academy. Idol commitments had kept her too busy to do any investigation into her class, but she was aware that there was nobody quite in her area of expertise. She didn’t overly mind, she doubted that any of her classmates were going to hold that level of importance in her eyes to begin with. She likely would’ve had to deal with worse in the past, anyway.

A bit of walking was enough for him to reach his destination: Sayaka Maizono's dressing room, where he was supposed to meet her. Knocking on the door, he waited to be received by the idol, not being able to help the nervousness that set in. What would he even tell her? He was never good with interactions like this in the first place.

She walked over to her dressing table, taking a small sip of water from a glass upon the top of it before she was interrupted by a knock coming from her door. She repeated the name she was told a few more times in her mind. “Nagito Komaeda, Nagito Komaeda, Nagito Komaeda.” It took a few seconds for her to cross the room, pausing with her hand on the doorknob for a few seconds to compose herself. A wide smile formed on her face as she turned the doorknob, opening it up. 

Her head instantly cocked itself upwards as the door swung open, accommodating for the height difference between herself and the person who had won the contest. It seemed that he was at most a year older than her, which would make it slightly better to handle conversation. Most people younger than her were extreme fans, and most older people didn't quite speak to her as casual as she would've preferred. She could also tell that he didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives, which relaxed her a little bit as she continued smiling, staring up at his eyes as she waited to move from her spot in the doorway.

“Hi! You must be Nagito Komaeda, right?” Her voice shone with energy, keeping up her full idol persona as she looked up at him, waiting for him to respond.

He couldn't help but be a bit taken aback by the girl's approach, although he did his best to not demonstrate that. The fact that she even knew his name was already surprising enough, let alone all the energy with which she greeted him, even after the arduous performance that had just ended. She must really have an impressive stamina to still be able to do that. Nagito mentally noted that observation as he smiled down at the idol, doing his best to seem friendly even with all the anxiety building up inside of him.

"Ah, that's right. And you're Sayaka Maizono." An obvious statement to make, but he really wasn't sure what to say while trying to not seem like he didn't know what to tell her. "Your concert was really amazing, Maizono-san. As expected of a talented idol such as yourself!" With each word he said, he didn't know if he was doing a good job or if he was digging a bigger hole for himself.

As he waited for her response, Nagito looked down at the girl, observing her features. From what he had heard, she was a year younger than him, and he had to admit that she was quite beautiful. Not his type, but nevertheless pretty. No wonder so many guys were interested on the idol, and she probably had met her share of 'creepy' fans along the way. He wouldn't be surprised if she became wary of him due to those past experiences.

Sayaka only continued smiling as he replied to her, silently relieved that any remaining worries about him dissipated at his response. Her intuition noticed that the white-haired boy standing in front of her was nervous more than anything, which also provided her with temporary relief. With a small giggle, she stepped aside, allowing Nagito passage into her dressing room as one hand continued to wrap itself around the door handle.

“Thank you…” Sayaka hesitated for a moment. She hadn’t exactly planned how she was going to address him, especially after the way he formally addressed her. She decided to try and stay casual, especially in an attempt to keep the energy up for him. Sayaka was considering that her energy levels was slightly off-putting to Nagito, but she decided to keep it up to maintain her image as an idol, smiling up at him. “Nagito-kun! I’m flattered that you think my concert was amazing!” 

She struggled to keep the slight hint of relief out of her voice, now properly understanding that he was going to be harmless in terms of trying to do something to her while the two of them were alone. As she waited for him to enter, her eyes drifted downwards to the magazine contained in his hand. She had interacted with enough fans before to assume what his intention was with that, her eyes tracing their way to a pen on her dressing table, before quickly drifting back to his eyes. “Oh! Do you want me to sign that for you, by the way?” One of her feet was already slightly angled towards the dressing table, already preparing to make her way to the pen and back to sign the magazine.

It took him maybe a moment or two to realize that she was waiting for him to step inside the room. Quietly, he walked forward and into the dressing room, can of soda and magazine still in his hands. However, his luck had some plans for him. Not pleasant plans, of course. His good luck had already happened, and so, his cycle made it clear which side of his luck he was going to face next.

When Sayaka asked him about the signature, he turned back to her, and it was at that moment that it hit him. He was too slow, however, to stop it from taking effect. His can of soda soon flew in the idol's direction as Nagito slipped on the carpet. The angle was just perfect for the soda to fall all over the clothes she was wearing. Quickly, the albino got up, and just as quickly he did his best to search for something to clean her with. He only found a box of tissues, but he still attempted to clean the mess the soda left.

A look of annoyance mixed with disgust flashed across her face soda flew out of the can and covered her clothes as he fell onto the carpet. Sayaka barely managed to compose herself before Nagito turned back to her so he could attempt to clean her up, slight annoyance still being visible on her face. She did all she could to mentally resist herself from shouting at him, or even make any audible reaction to it, but she managed to stay quiet.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Nagito tried his best to apologize as he hurriedly cleaned. "This is all my fault... trash like me shouldn't have even come here." He muttered the self-deprecating words before discovering that he had ran out of tissues, and that his attempts at cleaning had barely made a difference on the end result. "If I wasn't here, this wouldn't have happened..." The albino continued the loathing, staring down at the ground, unable to face the girl.

She did nothing but stand as Nagito struggled to clean her up, nearly completely failing in the process. The self-deprecating words did admittedly make her feel a little bit sorry for him, but she was still largely annoyed. “I… It’s okay.” Her voice lost its prior energy, but it now had more of a monotone tone, not quite angry nor upset. But it wasn’t quite happy, either. She could tell that Nagito had regretted his mistake, and it was beyond his control, anyway. “It wasn’t your fault, you just got unlucky.” 

She took a sigh, feeling increasingly sorry for him before continuing. “Just… can you please leave? I’m sorry to ask this, but I need to get myself cleaned up. I know the prize was meant to be longer than this, but give the circumstances...” She flicked a tissue that had stuck to the soda off her dress, giving him a weak smile. “I’d offer some form of compensation, but I’m not sure there’s anything I could give you.”

As opposed to his hesitation when he had been invited inside, Nagito very much immediately got the message once he took a look at Sayaka's expression and listened to her words, a completely different atmosphere set by the way she spoke. His first reflex was to step aside, away from her. His bad luck had once again affected someone who didn't deserve it at all.

"I... I understand. I will leave, then." He announced, his words heavy in the air, almost as if they were carrying all the weight of the burden he had put onto himself for the problem he had caused. Another problem he had caused to yet another person. "You don't need to compensate for anything, Maizono-san." Nagito smiled back at the girl as he turned to the door, prepared to leave the room.

Of course, that smile had been fake, but he was more than used to faking those to others. Looking carefree and happy even when something horrible happened was always a great way to get others upset and, consequently, far away from him, after all. "I hope you won't have the misfortune of meeting me again. And... I hope you have a lot of success at Hope's Peak." Those were the last words he said to Sayaka before leaving the backstage, not looking back even once.

Sayaka stayed quiet as Nagito left the room, other than a small “thank you” escaping her lips. She had managed to keep her smile up in return as Nagito left, at least. She had to smile through much worse before, anyway. When he shut the door behind him, she let out a small sigh, glancing down at her now-sticky costume. She quickly got herself out of her outfit, starting with her dress before moving onto her other accessories. She had managed to stay mostly calm up until he left, her expression could be described of one as both annoyance and discomfort. Looking at her hair, it seems that it had somehow remained mostly clean from the soda poured on her, which made her a tiny bit happier to say the least.

His words about Hope’s Peak provided her with temporary distraction, excitement building within her once again. She hoped it would be a chance for her to escape the spotlight for once. Of course, she would never object to taking center stage, but she thought it would be nice to get away from the idol business for a while and be able to focus on more carefree things. She knew she would never quite be able to give up her status, but it was temporary freedom, a chance at living a somewhat normal life. Of course, it couldn’t be described as ‘normal’ in itself, the student body giving her enough of an indication that it would likely be much the opposite.

Nevertheless, it was time for her to focus on the present as she cleaned up any of the soda that had found its way onto her skin. Once she was safely clean, she took a backup costume from a wardrobe located in her dressing room, quickly re-dressing herself before glancing down at her now-dirty costume, sighing. After taking a few seconds to decide, she shook her head, grabbing a bag to tuck the outfit into. She didn’t want to risk Nagito dealing with any serious problems because of his mistake, so she decided to take matters into her own hands, planning to sneak the costume out and wash it herself. After touching up her makeup, it didn’t take long until she was approached by concert staff, informing her of her next plans. Luckily, she didn’t seem to be noticed, which brought her a small wave of relief.

\----

A few days passed since the concert, and before Nagito knew it, it was already the night before his first day at Hope's Peak Academy as a second year. Looking out of the window from his room as thin yet visible droplets of water poured outside, he wondered how this new year would progress. He would be lying if he said he wasn't excited to see his classmates again, although he knew for sure that they wouldn't feel the same about spending time with him in their shared classroom for yet another full year.

His classmates all had amazing talents that made them the center of attention - much like Sayaka was at the center of the spotlight during her show - and they certainly had gone through a lot to earn those Ultimate titles. Meanwhile, him, a nobody, had become an Ultimate simply by something as pathetic as luck. He hesitated several times about attending Hope's Peak, but the headmaster had insisted that he was far too interesting to let go like that. Apparently, his luck was 'special'.

Lying down on his bed, he closed his eyes and wondered how the first day would progress. He'd have some bad luck and some good luck, that's for sure, but he probably wouldn't know which was the good luck and which was the bad luck. It would be just like his first year, and thinking about it now made him realize that he still wasn't sure if what had happened that day was good luck or bad luck. He had bumped into a Reserve Course student while looking for his classroom. One that seemed particularly interested on the Main Course students, much to Nagito's dismay. Of course, that boy had paid to be there in hopes of becoming an Ultimate as well, but he wasn't aware that someone as untalented as him wouldn't ever earn a title like that.

There was certainly something about him that caught the albino's interest, however. The way his green eyes shone with admiration as he spoke about Hope's Peak to him... maybe they were more similar than Nagito thought. They both held a special feeling towards the school, and that was like a slap to the luckster's face. Since then, he had met the boy a few other times, but they never talked enough for him to learn his name. It wasn't like he was particularly interested on learning more about him, anyways, even with the similarities. Him, similar to a mere reserve course... that surely fit scum like him, didn't it?

After much thinking about all the possible outcomes of the first day, he fell asleep whilst listening to the sound of the rain against the window, a soothing melody for his ears.

-

Sayaka let her legs dangle off the side of her bed as she traced a finger across the soft sheets, gently humming to herself. Her excitement was at its peak, and she was struggling to let it all loose as her eyes hovered over her calendar. Tomorrow was the start of her new life at Hope’s Peak Academy, and she was more excited than ever. All of her work, the hours - no. The days, the years of practice she had put into her idol work. The culmination of all her efforts had gotten her to this point: The Ultimate Pop Sensation title was hers, and she had never been happier.

Her phone lay next to her on the bed, open to the Hope’s Peak Academy message board. She had promised herself to try and build the suspense for her classmates once she had the opportunity to actually check it, but she couldn’t help it. She subconsciously regarded her suspicions about Nagito being aware of her attendance as true, as she saw many posts discussing her enrollment in the academy. Even if she hadn’t made a public statement prior, it was clear that people would’ve been aware of her attending Hope’s Peak from how popular she was in the forum boards. She wasn’t the only person being discussed, as she had scrolled through several other posts regarding other new students. There was mention of a fashion idol, a biker gang leader, and several other people, all with varying talents. The pitter-patter of rain beat against her window, helping her relax somewhat.

Of course, going to Hope’s Peak wasn’t entirely excitement for her, as she closed her eyes. The encouraging words of her idol group rang in her ears as she continued to swing her legs against the side of her bed, gently letting them thump against the bed’s frame. She knew that she wasn’t abandoning them, but no matter what they said to try and comfort her about leaving them, only just to attend Hope’s Peak, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was going to miss them.

She opened her eyes back up, realising that she had begun to fall asleep as her eyes were shut, the excitement finally beginning to wear her out as she rolled over, her face illuminated by the shimmer of her phone screen. Reaching out with one hand, she gently took the device, turning it off and setting it on her nightstand. After her phone was safely resting next to her, she switched the light off, crawling under the sheets. The only noise in the room was being produced by the sound of raindrops hitting against her window, accompanied by the ticking of a clock.

 

They both were unaware of the new experiences that year would bring them.


End file.
